Field
The present disclosure generally relates to a color conversion substrate, a method of fabricating the same, and a display device including the same. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a color conversion substrate able to obtain long-term stability in quantum dots (QDs) and a superior degree of color conversion efficiency in the color conversion substrate, a method of fabricating the same, and a display device including the same.
Description of Related Art
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device formed of a compound such as gallium arsenide (GaAs) to emit light when an electrical current is applied thereto. The LED uses a p-n junction semiconductor structure into which minority carriers, such as electrons or holes, are injected, such that light is generated by the recombination of electrons and holes.
The characteristics of LEDs include low power consumption, a relatively long lifespan, the ability to be mounted in cramped spaces, and strong resistance to vibrations. LEDs are commonly used in display devices and in the backlight units of display devices. Recently, research into applying LEDs to general illumination devices has been undertaken. In addition to monochromatic LEDs, such as red, blue, or green LEDs, white LEDs have also come onto the market. In particular, a sharp increase in demand for white LEDs is anticipated, in line with the application of white LEDs to vehicle lighting devices and general lighting devices.
In the field of LED technology, white light is commonly generated using two main methods. The first method to generate white light includes disposing monochromatic LEDs, such as red, green, and blue LEDs, adjacently to each other such that various colors of light emitted by the monochromatic LEDs are mixed. However, color tones may change depending on the environment in which such devices are used, since individual monochromatic LEDs have different thermal or temporal characteristics. In particular, color stains may occur, making it difficult to uniformly mix different colors of light. The second method to generate white light includes applying a fluorescent material to an LED and mixing a portion of initial light emitted by the LED and secondary light of which wavelength has been converted by the fluorescent material. For example, a fluorescent material generating yellowish-green or yellow light may be used as a light excitation source on a blue LED, whereby white light can be produced by mixing blue light emitted by the blue LED and yellowish-green or yellow light excited by the fluorescent material. At present, the second method of realizing white light utilizing a blue LED and a fluorescent material is generally used.
Recently, quantum dots (QDs) have been used for color conversion to produce white light. QDs generate relatively strong light within a narrow wavelength, the light being stronger than light generated from a typical fluorescent material. In general, a QD-LED backlight unit generates white light by irradiating blue light emitted by a blue LED onto yellow QDs, and applies the white light to a liquid crystal display (LCD) as backlight. LCDs using such a QD-LED backlight unit have high potential as new displays, since the characteristics of such LCDs include superior color reproduction unlike those using a traditional backlight using LEDs only, the ability to realize full color comparable to that of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), as well as lower fabrication costs and higher manufacturing productivity than OLED TVs.
However, when QDs are continuously exposed to oxygen and moisture in an external air gap, defects may be formed on the surface of QDs, leading to problems, such as reduction in color conversion efficiency and change in color coordinates. Therefore, it is important to ensure the thermal stability of QDs and isolate QDs from the external air gap in order to apply QDs to a display device as a color (wavelength) conversion material.